R’fontein crime stats: Sexual assault and stock theft worst in 10 years

The police recently revealed the crime statistics for 2018/ 2019 and as always there were the good, the bad and the ugly.

On a national scale, the Western Cape and Gauteng dominated the list of the Top 30 police stations in the country most affected by crime, with Cape Town Central and Mitchells Plain Police Stations coming in at numbers one and two respectively, followed by Pretoria Central in Gauteng in third.

Locally, the West Rand did feature on this list with Honeydew coming in at number nine, and Randfontein at number 29. The good news is that crime in Randfontein has decreased by 1,9 per cent overall.

The bad news, however, is that crimes such as murder, attempted murder, sexual assault and truck hijacking, to name a just a few, have shown an increase while the ugly part is that sexual assault has seen its worst increase in 10 years, by 56,3 per cent, and truck hijacking a whopping 88,9 per cent while stock theft also saw an alarming increase of 44,8 per cent and total of 42 cases, both showing the highest increase this past decade, which was also the case in 2015/ 2016.

Below are the latest crime statistics for Randfontein only.

PLEASE NOTE: Information made available by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Stats SA — Editor.

The following crimes have shown an increase:

CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON:

• Murder by 2,1 per cent (from 47 in 2017/ 2018 to 48 in 2018/ 2019)

• Attempted murder by 17,6 per cent (from 34 in 2017/ 2018 to 40 in 2018/ 2019)

• Assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm by 5,4 per cent (from 736 in 2017/ 2018 to 776 in 2018/ 2019)

• Robbery with aggravating circumstances by 7,6 per cent (from 422 in 2017/ 2018 to 454 in 2018/ 2019)

SEXUAL OFFENCES:

• Sexual assault by 56,3 per cent (from 16 in 2017/ 2018 to 25 in 2018/ 2019)

AGGRAVATED ROBBERY:

• Robbery at non-residential premises by 29,4 per cent (from 51 in 2017/ 2018 to 66 in 2018/ 2019)

• Truck hijacking by 88,9 per cent (from 9 in 2017/ 2018 to 17 in 2018/ 2019)

CONTACT-RELATED CRIMES:

• Malicious damage to property by 1,2 per cent (from 574 in 2017/ 2018 to 581 in 2018/ 2019)

PROPERTY-RELATED CRIMES:

• Burglary at non-residential premises by 18,5 per cent (from 157 in 2017/ 2018 to 186 in 2018/ 2019)

• Stock theft by 44,8 per cent (from 29 in 2017/ 2018 to 42 in 2018/ 2019)

OTHER SERIOUS CRIMES:

• Commercial crime by 2,6 per cent (from 152 in 2017/ 2018 to 156 in 2018/ 2019)

CRIME DETECTED AS A RESULT OF POLICE ACTION:

• Drug-related crime by 2,8 per cent (from 851 in 2017/ 2018 to 875 in 2018/ 2019)

The following crimes have shown a decrease:

CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON:

• Sexual offences by 9,8 per cent (from 143 in 2017/ 2018 to 129 in 2018/ 2019)

• Common assault by 4,9 per cent (from 960 in 2017/ 2018 to 913 in 2018/ 2019)

• Common robbery by 10,6 per cent (from 198 in 2017/ 2018 to 177 in 2018/ 2019)

SEXUAL OFFENCES:

• Rape by 19 per cent (from 121 in 2017/ 2018 to 98 in 2018/ 2019)

AGGRAVATED ROBBERY:

• Carjacking by 1,6 per cent (from 62 in 2017/ 2018 to 61 in 2018/ 2019)

• Robbery at residential premises by 1,3 per cent (from 75 in 2017/ 2018 to 74 in 2018/ 2019)

• Robbery of cash-in-transit by 100 per cent (from 2 in 2017/ 2018 to 0 in 2018/ 2019)

CONTACT-RELATED CRIMES:

• Arson by 12,5 per cent (from 8 in 2017/ 2018 to 7 in 2018/ 2019)

PROPERTY-RELATED CRIMES:

• Burglary at residential premises by 13 per cent (from 828 in 2017/ 2018 to 720 in 2018/ 2019)

• Theft of motor vehicle and motorcycle by 2,4 per cent (from 419 in 2017/ 2018 to 409 in 2018/ 2019)

• Theft out of or from a motor vehicle by 12,4 per cent (from 435 in 2017/ 2018 to 381 in 2018/ 2019)

OTHER SERIOUS CRIMES:

• All theft not mentioned elsewhere by 1,9 per cent (from 1 330 in 2017/ 2018 to 1 305 in 2018/ 2019)

• Shoplifting by 15,1 per cent (from 272 in 2017/ 2018 to 231 in 2018/ 2019)

CRIME DETECTED AS A RESULT OF POLICE ACTION:

• Illegal possession of firearms and ammunition by 5,8 per cent (from 52 in 2017/ 2018 to 49 in 2018/ 2019)

• Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs by 15,7 per cent (from 274 in 2017/ 2018 to 231 in 2018/ 2019)

*Read the Herald’s 27 September edition for exclusive interviews with our Randfontein, Westonaria and Bekkersdal Police station commanders about the latest crime statistics.